Postgraduate Clinical Tropical Medicine and International Health
Are you a medical doctor looking to specialize in tropical medicine and international health? This 5‑month postgraduate builds advanced clinical expertise to diagnose and manage tropical diseases and to tackle global health challenges in resource-limited settings.
Deadline: 15 juli 2027, 23:59 CET voor de cursus van 2027-2028
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Postgraduate Certificate
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25 ECTS-credits
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English
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Algemene informatie
What is the Postgraduate Clinical Tropical Medicine and International Health?
This postgraduate programme prepares medical doctors to manage clinical and public health challenges in tropical and resource-constrained settings. It combines advanced training in tropical medicine with a broad understanding of international health, enabling you to respond effectively to complex health problems in an increasingly interconnected world.
This postgraduate combines two courses: “Challenges in International Health” and “Tropical Medicine and Clinical Decision Making” into an integrated learning pathway. You will learn how to address health challenges at both the individual patient and population levels, strengthening your diagnostic, clinical reasoning, and decision-making skills. Particular emphasis will be placed on the diagnosis and management of tropical diseases in resource-limited settings, all within a broader public health perspective.
During the programme, you will explore the social, economic, political, environmental, and clinical dimensions of health through real-world case studies and practical applications.
Why study this postgraduate at ITM?
Global health challenges are evolving rapidly and getting more complex. Emerging infectious diseases, humanitarian crises, climate-related emergencies, antimicrobial resistance, and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases require health professionals who can work across disciplines and contexts.
This programme equips you with the scientific knowledge, practical skills, and global perspective needed to respond effectively to these challenges. You will learn from experts who combine academic excellence with extensive field experience in low-resource settings around the world.
At ITM, learning goes beyond theory. Through case-based learning, collaborative exercises, and critical reflection, you will develop the competencies required for clinical practice, health programme implementation, and leadership roles in international health.
Who is this postgraduate for?
Are you looking to work in low-resource settings, humanitarian emergencies, migrant health services, or international health organisations? Or do you care for travellers, migrants, and other populations affected by tropical diseases in your current practice? This postgraduate programme will equip you with the knowledge, clinical skills, and global health perspective needed to strengthen your professional practice.
The postgraduate Clinical Tropical Medicine and International Health is primarily designed for medical doctors with little or no prior professional experience in tropical settings who wish to expand their expertise in tropical medicine and international health. At the same time, the programme is also suitable for physicians from low- and middle-income countries seeking an update in tropical medicine and clinical decision-making.
You should hold a university (master’s) degree in Medicine.
When does this programme take place?
This programme runs from 4 October 2027 until 17 March 2028.
All classes are face-to-face and take place from Monday to Friday from approximately 09:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 16:00.
If this timing doesn’t suit you, check out the French postgraduate.
The French postgraduate is organised from January until beginning of July. The first part of this postgraduate (Tropical Medicine and Clinical Decision Making) is in English, the second part (Défis en Santé Internationale) is in French.
Degree
Upon graduation, you will receive the postgraduate certificate:
Postgraduate Certificate Clinical Tropical Medicine and International Health
Leerdoelstellingen
What will you learn?
By the end of the programme, you will be able to:
- Assess the burden of major public health problems—including their frequency, severity, inequities, and socio-economic impacts—in both stable and epidemic settings;
- Analyse risk factors and determinants of health (ecological, genetic, social, economic, behavioural, and health system related), with particular attention to vulnerable populations;
- Design evidence-based, context-appropriate public health interventions for stable and crisis settings, integrating resource constraints, stakeholder perspectives, and implementation challenges;
- Critically assess health system performance in terms of access, quality, service organisation, governance, intersectoral collaboration, and crisis preparedness and response;
- Assess statements about epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of clinical cases presenting with tropical diseases, HIV, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, and common paediatric, dermatologic, and gynaecologic conditions in low-resource settings;
- Integrate all domain-specific knowledge (epidemiology, clinical, laboratory) to elaborate a sound differential diagnosis and propose adequate clinical management for clinical cases in a hospital with scarce resources in a tropical setting;
- Discuss major global health policy issues, including the SDGs and the roles, interactions, and influence of key actors across national and international health governance.
*Courses and programmes can be subject to change.
Program director(s)
- Ludwig Apers
Program coördinator(s)
- Deogratias Katsuva Sibongwere
- Grizel Sami Alcedo Ascencios
Program administrator(s)
- Anne Thoelen
- Gerlinde Segers
- Cathy Liu
Contact
- tmih@itg.be